Below is a youtube video of Steve Jobs' commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005. It's motivating, yet realistic. I suggest you take the time to listen to his speech. It's that good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
Steve Jobs lays out his speech in three "stories."
The first story is about "connecting the dots." He discusses how you cannot attempt to connect the dots of your life looking forward; you "can only connect them looking backwards." What an important message. So many of us struggle, daily, to attempt to connect the dots of our life. Where will we be in five years, or in ten, maybe even twenty. Don't get me wrong, I agree in the importance of careful planning and having attainable goals, but sometimes I wonder if the anxiety and stress caused by attempts to "connect the dots" is wasted time and energy. Best message I can take away from this story is to do your best but not allow yourself to hold on to the feeling of failure and despair when things don't go as perfect as you had planned. Those misteps can lead to the biggest rewards.
The second story Steve Jobs discusses is about love and loss. He explains the difficulty he underwent he was fired from Apple and how devastated he was because he loved his job. Instead of giving up, he developed two companies; NeXT and Pixar. The success of these companies is known worldwide. He remarked on this transition in his life, " Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love." He continued with, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." So true.
The third story is about death. I think the entirety of his speech relays a great message, but this "story" in particular really made me think about my life...and about yours. He stated, "[F]or the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
I read an article a few days back that reminded me of his words. The author of this article explained that there are two reasons why we don't change our current status to be able to do something that we love. The first is that we aren't exactly sure what we would love to do every day. The second, and more prominent reason, is fear. Both are very legitimate reasons not to switch occupations or make some other type of life altering change; I have experienced both. Steve Jobs explains this in his third story, he says that his fear of making a change was gone in the face of death. "Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
